Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department required any private commercial suppliers or delivery partners previously contracted to work on the New Hospital Programme to be excluded from working on the New Hospital Programme Review.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The review of the New Hospital Programme (NHP) was led by a Director from the NHP Sponsor team in the Department. They were supported by a number of officials from the NHP Sponsor team in the Department along with officials from NHS England, with input from the NHP’s interim commercial and delivery partners and officials in HM Treasury. The NHP developed the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis tool with support from its interim commercial and delivery partners.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of sexual violence were referred to the NHS by (a) charities and (b) local support organisations in 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service provides support for victims and survivors of sexual violence through a range of services which can be accessed via self-referral or referral from other organisations. This includes mental health services and sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) which provide crisis care, medical and forensic examinations and onward referral to other support services. SARCs had a total of 27,738 referrals in the year 2024/25 and of those, 65 came via the voluntary sector.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the provision of emergency co-responders in (a) rural and (b) coastal areas.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the important contribution of co-responders in improving response times, particularly in hard-to-reach rural and coastal communities.
The Department supports the provision of emergency co-responders in rural and coastal areas through the Community First Responders (CFR) programme, where volunteers are trained by the ambulance service to attend certain types of emergency calls in the area where they live or work.
Ambulance trusts are responsible, on an individual basis, for taking decisions on the capacity and support needed to deliver their services in their local areas.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of funding rape and sexual abuse support services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the vital importance of rape and sexual abuse support services.
NHS England funds sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) which provide crisis care, medical and forensic examinations and onward referral to other support services. NHS England spent £57.6m on SARCs in 2024/25. NHS England regions also commission voluntary sector organisations to support victims and survivors, totalling £4.5m in 2024/25.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department undertook stress testing in relation to the delivery schedule for the New Hospital Programme Schemes under the New Hospital Programme Review, published on 20 January 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Implementation, a multi-criteria decision support analysis (MCDA) tool was used to help prioritise schemes to support the development of funding options. Key data, including the criteria for clinical outcomes, deliverability, cost, and the estate conditions from each of the hospitals falling within the scope of the review, was inputted into the tool. The input data and scoring mechanism within the MCDA was reviewed by NHS England and Department colleagues to validate its appropriateness. The Plan for Implementation is available at the following link:
As part of the analysis, schemes were prioritised into upper, middle, and lower third scoring, which was then stress tested using the professional expertise and judgment of clinical, programme, construction, and finance colleagues from within the New Hospital Programme (NHP), the Department, and NHS England, to identify and overlay other factors of concern into the final options by reviewing the output of the MCDA and completing a further degree of testing to validate the results.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has determined that the Plan for Implementation provides a comprehensive explanation of how the MCDA tool was used in the NHP review. This decision notice is available at the following link:
https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/decision-notices/2025/08/ic-381127-f6x5/
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what methodology his Department used to determine the banding of New Hospital Programme schemes under the New Hospital Programme Review, published on 20 January 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Implementation, a multi-criteria decision support analysis (MCDA) tool was used to help prioritise schemes to support the development of funding options. Key data, including the criteria for clinical outcomes, deliverability, cost, and the estate conditions from each of the hospitals falling within the scope of the review, was inputted into the tool. The input data and scoring mechanism within the MCDA was reviewed by NHS England and Department colleagues to validate its appropriateness. The Plan for Implementation is available at the following link:
As part of the analysis, schemes were prioritised into upper, middle, and lower third scoring, which was then stress tested using the professional expertise and judgment of clinical, programme, construction, and finance colleagues from within the New Hospital Programme (NHP), the Department, and NHS England, to identify and overlay other factors of concern into the final options by reviewing the output of the MCDA and completing a further degree of testing to validate the results.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has determined that the Plan for Implementation provides a comprehensive explanation of how the MCDA tool was used in the NHP review. This decision notice is available at the following link:
https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/decision-notices/2025/08/ic-381127-f6x5/
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding the NHS plans to provide to help support patients who are victims of sexual violence in the 2025-26 financial year, excluding funding provided by the Ministry of Justice.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service provides support for victims and survivors of sexual violence through a range of services including mental health services and sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) which provide crisis care, medical and forensic examinations and onward referral to other support services.
Integrated care boards and NHS trusts commission support for patients who are victims of sexual violence, working in partnership with local authorities and police and crime commissioners. Figures on this local commissioning spend are not available nationally.
At national level, NHS England spent £57.6 million on SARCs in 2024/25. In addition, NHS England regions commission voluntary sector organisations to support victims and survivors, totalling £4.5 million in 2024/25. Total funding for the current financial year will be published approximately 12 months following the financial year’s end and will detail accounts and actual spending.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications for additional pharmacies were declined following a pharmaceutical needs assessment that identified a lack of need in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on applications to open a new pharmacy are delegated from NHS England to National Health Service integrated care boards, and the Department does not hold data on how many applications were rejected or the reasons for these rejections. If a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) identifies a lack of need for a new pharmacy in the area, pharmacy contractors can still apply to open a pharmacy to provide benefits to the local communities that were not foreseen in the PNA.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment, his Department has made of the accuracy of pharmaceutical needs assessments undertaken by local health and wellbeing boards.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on applications to open a new pharmacy are delegated from NHS England to National Health Service integrated care boards, and the Department does not hold data on how many applications were rejected or the reasons for these rejections. If a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) identifies a lack of need for a new pharmacy in the area, pharmacy contractors can still apply to open a pharmacy to provide benefits to the local communities that were not foreseen in the PNA.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the rates of re-use or recycling of crutches, frames and other walking aids issued by NHS Trusts in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department for Health and Social Care does not hold this data centrally. However, NHS England has confirmed that its data from 2025 show that 85% of Trusts who issue walking aids report having a walking aid refurbishment and reuse scheme in place, up from 77% in March 2024. Information on rates of re-use or recycling may be held locally by NHS trusts.